I remember the first time I viewed the loft and came up to this roof deck, saw the view and it took my breath away and I instantly knew: Mine.
I have to have this.
But that was nothing compared to the view of Nina’s sweet face as she’s gently stroking me, and the feeling I have of wanting this.
Mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Vince
As if I needed another sign that life as I know it has changed forever, the moment that really crystallizes things for me is when I’m on the F train, on my way home from a dinner meeting before picking Nina up for the party, and the guy next to me is listening to his music so loud that I can hear every word of A-Ha’s “Take On Me” from his earbuds, and I keep thinking: “That’s exactly how I feel. That’s how I’ve been feeling about Nina.”
Except the “I’ll be gone” part. But the other stuff, at least the lines I can understand. It really is no better to be safe than sorry. But I do want her to feel safe with me. I don’t want her to be sorry she kept seeing me. We keep talking away and she keeps shying away but I’ll be coming for her anyway and I’m slowly learning that life is okay.
Fuck me.
This is pathetic.
If my brother knew what was going on in my head right now, he’d sucker-punch those pretty boy Norwegian Eighties synth-pop thoughts right out of me. Or maybe he’ll take one look at Nina and wonder why it took me more than two seconds to decide to pursue her.
I keep thinking about how Mom would have loved her. And the fact that she uses the same dish soap and listens to Joni Mitchell. I mean. I’m not saying this is Freudian, it’s just a pretty great coincidence. I’m pretty sure I’m not trying to make too big a deal out of it, but it’s definitely doing something to my head. It makes me confused about how long I’ve known Nina. Time feels more elastic.
Or maybe I shouldn’t have had two glasses of Scotch with dinner.
When our mouths and tongues finally pull apart, she licks her lips and says: “Mmmm. Scotch?”
“Very good.” I’ve been giving her a crash course in alcohol identification, mostly based on whatever taste is lingering in my mouth. Not that I drink all that often. So far I’ve had her try shots of tequila, vodka, and whiskey at my place, and then I mixed her up an Orgasm Cocktail after we finally came down from my roof deck. That was a great fucking night. I had Scotch after dinner last night too, before meeting up with her. She’s a fast learner.
“Am I dressed okay for the party? My friend Marnie made me wear this.”
“Your friend Marnie is a genius.” She’s wearing tight jeans, spiky heels, a loose shimmery silver tank top and hoop earrings. She’s got on eyeliner or something tonight. It changes her face, makes her look like a supermodel, but the kind you’d actually want to talk to. “Darlin’, you are dressed more than okay if you’re okay with my hand up that top all night. You look stunning.”
“I just wasn’t sure if—I mean I’ll be meeting your family and co-workers, right? I don’t want to look too…”
“Hot? You literally couldn’t look less hot if you tried.”
She wrinkles her brow at me.
“Wait. That came out wrong. You couldn’t look more hot if you tried.”
“Exactly how much Scotch did you have today?”
“I’m drunk on your beauty, baby.”
I hold the door to the Uber car open and get back in with her. I can see the driver’s eyes bulge out of their sockets when he checks her out.
“Eyes on the road, buddy,” I say, as he pulls away from the curb in front of her building.
“Hi,” she says, to the driver, because she’s friendly.
“Hey, how’s it going,” the driver says. I can tell he’s trying so hard to not sound flirtatious that it pisses me off.
I lay another long kiss on Nina until she has to pull away to catch her breath. She clears her throat and looks out the window, smiling. I put my hand on her thigh and I’m not going to let go of her all night.
I start laughing all of a sudden, remembering that she actually thought I was too cool to be seen in public with her. She looks back over at me, quizzically. I can tell she thinks I’m drunk, but it really is just her affect on me. She might be too hot for me to be able to handle navigating her and the public at the same time. That has never been an issue for me before.
I’ve dated nothing but hot women, but I’ve never felt so protective of one before. With Sadie it was because I was giving up my freedom to be with her, so I didn’t want anyone else touching her or ogling her. With Nina I just want her for myself. I’ve seen the nightlife, I’ve been a part of it since high school, I know what’s up out there. I want to stay in and listen to her talk about chapter books and watch her face while I make her come. I’m not ready to share her yet. But I’ll have to.
The cocktail bar that Eve and I chose for her birthday party is a cool place in Williamsburg with a big private room. Eve doesn’t know it yet, but my Dad and brother and I are paying for everything tonight.
I lead Nina through the candle and Edison bulb-lit front room lounge, towards the back. I don’t know the bartender who’s working tonight, but I give him a nod. I see him checking out my girl. Can’t blame him, but I give him a look. Fucking bartenders. I should know.
“I like the vibe here,” she says, like it’s the first time she’s ever said the word “vibe” in her life.
“Yeah, I know the guy who owns this place, we found another location for him in Red Hook, he’s doing a whiskey bar over there.”
“What should I drink tonight?” she asks, her face lighting up. “Wanna know what kind of mood I’m in?”
I stop and turn to face her. “I know exactly what I’m gonna make you to put you in the mood I want you in.”
“If it’s another Orgasm, you’ll have to work up to that.”
“Hey do I look like an amateur? First I make you a French Kiss, but only if they have lavender bitters here, which they might not. Then you get a Hanky Panky, and then you get the orgasm.”
“Why, Mr. Devlin, I will remind you that I am a lightweight. You better choose one and choose wisely.”
“I have chosen one,” I say, and kiss her on the cheek. For the first time ever, I know I’ve chosen wisely. I put my arm around her shoulder and open the door to the back room.
The amber up-lighting, chandeliers, exposed brick walls, leather seating and deep red velvet curtains create a cozy sexy vibe, but right now the room is packed and warm and thumping. I didn’t realize we were so late to the party. The DJ is playing 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” and everyone in here is going nuts. The whole room is a dance floor. I can see Eve in the middle of the room, dancing with her wife and pointing to herself, yelling “It’s my birthday!”
Even our uptight lawyer is shaking his arms and attempting a heel toe step. I guide Nina through the crowd a few feet, then turn to face her, my hands slide down to her hips, I position my leg between hers, and I try to ignore how surprised she looks that I’m actually dancing. Like what—does she think I’m too cool to dance? I grab her ass and pull her as close as possible to me, my thigh right up in there between her legs, where I could live for days, and it only takes a second for her hips to start moving back and forth, her arms up in the air, head nodding to the beat like everyone else in here.
She moves her shoulders and ribs in a way that is very impressive, and I can’t stop my hands from sliding up under her tank top. I did warn her this would happen. She smirks, so hot, puts her hands over mine, and pushes them back down to her ass. I’ll take it. I’ll take all of it. I kiss her, and within seconds, we’re making out so hot and heavy. We’re pressed up against each other, and everyone else is so into doing their own thing, I don’t even care that my whole sales team is in here somewhere.
She finally pulls away from me and runs her hands through her hair while mouthing the words to the song at me—twist! I guess the youngsters in Bloomington listen to hip-hop too.
Out o
f the corner of my eye, I can see Eve making her way over to us, holding her giant margarita glass up over people’s heads, and staring at Nina with her face all scrunched up like she’s scrutinizing her. “Go shorty,” I yell out, “it’s your birthday!” But she stops right next to Nina and yells out: “Miss Parks?!”
Nina freezes, stares at Eve. Her eyes widen and she says: “Tyler’s mom! Hi!”
“Oh my God! Hi!” Eve looks at me, crazily pointing between herself and Nina. “We know each other! She taught my son last year! Holy fuck!” She slaps my shoulder. “HAH!”
Nina has slowly let go of me and stepped back, straightening up her clothes.
Eve takes a huge slug of her margarita, then almost spits it out and yells out at Nina: “I don’t usually drink like this, I swear!”
“I don’t usually dance like this, I swear!”
“Oh my God I almost didn’t recognize you with the make-up and the earrings and the Vince, but oh my God! It’s Miss Parks!”
“Happy birthday! You must be having so much fun!” Nina says, trying to change the subject.
I should be more surprised that my business partner already knows Nina, but my brain is too busy picturing “Miss Parks” in a buttoned-down blouse, tight skirt and spiky heels, holding up a ruler and telling me to stay after school because I’ve been a bad boy.
I have to physically shake my head to rid myself of that image.
I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me that Eve would actually know Nina. Eve hardly ever brings her son around to the office or talks about him, because she’s always talking about “separation of church and state.” I think she just doesn’t want all us guys thinking of her as a mom first and foremost, as if we thought of her as anything other than a kickass broker who’s a cool lesbian with a hot wife.
But it makes me strangely happy to know that Eve and Nina knew each other before Nina knew me. It’s another social connection beyond our lying cheating exes.
It may take a while for Nina to see this as a strangely happy connection, though. I can tell she’s horrified that one of her student’s parents has seen us grinding away on each other.
Eve yells out that she’ll talk to us later and wades through the crowd to talk to one of our clients. I look around and don’t see my Dad or Gabe. I yell into Nina’s ear: “You want that drink now?”
She just shrugs her shoulders. “I guess?” She shakes her head and covers her face.
“Hey. What?”
“It’s Tyler’s mom!”
“It’s awesome!”
She shakes her head. “It’s humiliating.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come here.” I pull her back out the doors to the front room, where it’s not so loud. “Have you never run into someone from your school when you were out in public before?”
“Not while I had my tongue down a guy’s throat and was rubbing up on him!”
Oh my God you are so cute. “We were dancing! Everyone’s dancing. You think I haven’t seen Eve with her tongue half-way down her wife’s throat?”
She paces around, shaking her hands like they’re wet. “That’s not the same thing.”
“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“No! God, no! I don’t know, this is just so different from how I usually am.”
“Hey.” I put my hands on the side of her face. “You’re not in class right now. It’s your summer break. It’s not like you’re shooting a porno. You’re allowed to be a complex adult human being. Just because you teach little kids that doesn’t mean you have to live like one.”
She looks up at me like I just said something brilliant. She kisses me. I do feel brilliant.
“Okay. Is your family here?”
“I didn’t see them, but it’s possible.”
“Well, maybe don’t hump my leg while they’re around.”
“I make no promises. And I’m pretty sure you were humping my leg.”
Her hand goes to her face when she laughs like a girl, and God I love it when she does that.
I open the door to the back room again. Thankfully the song that’s now playing is some cheesy Beyoncé ballad that we don’t have to dance to and you could not pay me enough to dance to it, ever.
“Oh, I love this song!” she says. “Can we slow-dance to this?!”
“Okay!”
I am in so much trouble.
Chapter Fifteen
Nina
“So, you’re the reason he’s been smiling lately.” Tyler’s mom/Eve appears next to me as I stand by the bar, waiting for Vince to return from the restroom. Her curly hair looks adorably insane and she looks like a very happy birthday girl.
“Oh I don’t know. Why—does he not usually?”
“Hah! Mr. Seriously Sexy? I don’t think so.” She smacks my arm with her hand. “I can’t believe it’s you!”
“How’s Tyler?”
“He’s great! He’s with his sperm donor dad for the week, at Fire Island. He really loved you as a teacher,” she gushes, with her hand to her heart. “You really opened him up. Where’s Roxy? I told her you were here, she flipped out. We’re always talking about how you turned things around for Ty.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but he probably would have started to open up anyway as he got older.”
“No. It was you. Let’s hope you can work the same magic on our boy Vince. Turn his life around. Wouldn’t that be nice.”
I smile. “Actually, I think it’s safe to say that he’s the one who’s turning my life around.”
“I’m sure, but still.” She waves her hand. “Thank God that Sadie’s gone. Ech. He was always in such a bad mood when he was with her those last few months.” She shudders.
Someone comes up behind Eve and hugs her. She looks back to see who it is and screams, and thus ends our conversation. I wish we could have talked longer.
I hear Vince call my name. I see him standing with two other men and a lady. They are all staring at me, and Vince waves me over.
The older man looks like a heavyset present-day Alec Baldwin and the younger man looks like a bigger more angular version of Vince. The middle-aged woman standing in between them looks unequivocally happy to be near them and I can see why. The Devlins all have the cool-sexy-handsome gene. God help us.
The woman waves at me, holds out her hand. “I’m Sharon! It’s nice to meet you!”
“This is my Dad’s girlfriend,” Vince says, and Sharon starts beaming like he just said she’s the queen of the universe.
I shake her hand. “Hi I’m Nina, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“This is my Dad, Neil Devlin.”
Neil Devlin has a poker face and mischievous dark eyes. He looks down at me as he shakes my hand, saying nothing.
“How do you do.”
He bows his head and slow-blinks his eyes, watching me. I can’t tell if he hates me or not.
The bigger, bolder version of Vince, who has been studying me while standing very still and holding a tumbler, takes my hand and doesn’t really shake it, doesn’t let go of it either. “You really dating this idiot?”
“My brother, Gabe.” Vince is shaking his head, amused.
“Hi, Gabe. Yes, I really am.”
“Well, you ever want to hang with a real man, you come see me.”
“And then he’ll send you to the real man in the family—me—and I’ll send you back to Vince.”
“And I will keep you the hell away from these assholes from now on.”
Sharon giggles as Neil puts his arm around her.
“The new nanny watching Charlie tonight?” Vince asks his father.
“Yeah. Karen.” He looks at me. “We hire a sixty year-old nanny this time and this one can’t even remember her name.”
Good to know.
“I remember her name. Karen. Karen Walters.”
“Karen Williams,” says Gabe.
“It’s Karen Winters,” Sharon says.
“See why I keep her around,” Neil Devlin says, giving Sharon a squeeze, and I get a wink. “We’re very happy to meet you, Nina. Vince has been slightly more tolerable since he met you, which is saying a lot.”
“Actually, he’s even less tolerable because he just spaces out and smiles like a moron in meetings.” Gabe punches Vince’s arm.
These guys are so cute, it’s too much.
“Okay, let’s go get you that drink now.” Vince pulls me back towards the bar and I wave to the Devlins and Sharon. “That was terrible,” he says, looking down.
“Awww, come on,” I say, rubbing his back. “Haven’t you ever run into your family when you were out in public before? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“Okay, smartass. You ready for your French Kiss?”
“Am I ever.”
He goes behind the bar, salutes the bartender with two fingers, and starts inspecting the stock.
In no time, a clean-cut man in a polo shirt is standing right up next to me as I lean against the counter. He looks over and nods at me. I smile, politely.
“I’m Mark,” he says, holding out his hand to me.
“Hi Mark, I’m Nina.” He may be a co-worker or client of Vince’s, so I don’t make a point of moving away from him.
“You having a good night, Nina?”
“So far so good. You?”
“Getting better. Can I get you a drink?”
“I got her covered, man.” Vince’s voice is deeper than usual.
Mark raises his eyebrow at him. “Hey, can I get a gin and tonic?”
I guess they don’t know each other.
“Yeah, you should definitely walk your loafers on over there and ask the bartender for one of those.”
“Excuse me?”
“I think you heard me.” Vince’s jaw is so rigid as he leans against the counter, flexing his muscles.
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